


the world makes all kinds of rules for love

by chatsdelune (greymooses)



Series: 30 days of svt [18]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: "not you putting an air and water sign together and expecting them to communicate", (first words tattoos), 30 Days of Writing, Alternate Universe - Art School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, POV Alternating, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, i'm so alone haha, if i had to put a review quote on this that would be it, junshua and jigyu referenced, minghao is a disaster gay, they're my comfort ships and i needed them for this jfc, this is so fucking soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greymooses/pseuds/chatsdelune
Summary: minghao has made it through twenty something years of life as a generally calm person. running out of a room is not very Him. he chooses to grant himself an exception for today, because figure drawing sucks, plus the whole finding his soulmate thing.infigure drawing.ugh. there isn't enough wine in the world for this.
Relationships: Chwe Hansol | Vernon/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Series: 30 days of svt [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949296
Comments: 9
Kudos: 90





	the world makes all kinds of rules for love

**Author's Note:**

> pov alternating! is a thing! in case it wasn't caught in the tags, and to avoid confusion bc the summary is minghao but it starts as vernon.
> 
> idk anything about art, really, but i think i did enough research and it's vague enough that i didn't get anything too wrong, sorry if i did. minghao's whole mood is that he's a disaster gay and he hates this class bc he'd rather be flicking paint on shit.
> 
> it's [bowling alley minghao](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3b/a0/a7/3ba0a7d940b2561104967e3367e932aa.jpg). pick a vernon idc but i'm partial to henggarae. title from [i want crazy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgQVZgAqKt4) which is not very fitting for this but also kind of very fitting? idk y'all.
> 
> prompt: "Our Figure Drawing teacher is an asshole you stuck up for me when he started railing on my portraits" AU

"is that a hand or a spaceship?"

the only reason hansol is in this stupid class is because it's a frankly antiquated requirement for his digital art degree. he loathes the instructor, he loathes the naked models, he loathes fucking charcoal.

he bites his tongue and deals, because of one xu minghao. minghao always come to class just as the door is closing, dressed flawlessly if not occasionally in questionable clothing, and sets up at the empty easel next to hansol.

it doesn't matter where he sits. it doesn't seem to occur to minghao that hansol might want the seat empty. he just walks in like he owns the place and does what he wants.

part of this could be because he's incredibly talented and everyone knows it.

so when the instructor asks hansol "is that a hand or a spaceship?" he absolutely doesn't expect minghao's arm to still, or for him to lean over to look at hansol's work, and definitely not for him to say, "looks like a hand to me, but i understand how you might not have an eye for this kind of thing," then go back to his own piece.

"didn't need your help but thanks i guess," hansol mumbles.

minghao's charcoal slips out his hand. he frantically packs up his supplies and exits the room, leaving hansol in stunned silence.

***

minghao has made it through twenty something years of life as a generally calm person. running out of a room is not very Him. he chooses to grant himself an exception for today, because figure drawing sucks, plus the whole finding his soulmate thing.

in _figure drawing._ ugh. there isn't enough wine in the world for this.

"you know america is big, right? there isn't like a korean-american bat signal to call us together."

and oh, right, he had asked jisoo a question.

"so you don't know him?"

"oh, no, i do."

"then _why_ …" minghao starts, but decides to abandon the question in favor of drinking more.

"because you were pining before this and now it's even funnier."

minghao wouldn't call it _pining,_ but one could say he's not wholly upset by the development — the "didn't need your help but thanks i guess" that came out of hansol's mouth and appeared on the inside of his wrist.

he pours the rest of the bottle into his glass and leans back in his chair, defiantly says, "i wasn't pining."

okay, if he was, it's only because hansol has been the only entertaining part of the class all semester, and he smells surprisingly nice, and dresses terribly but it's cute and minghao sort of just wants to draw him, but so what.

jisoo bursts out in laughter but drops it, starts talking about junhui instead, which is exhausting in its own right — just thinking about him makes minghao dizzy in a bad way — but at least it's not mocking in lieu of telling minghao anything useful about the guy he's apparently fated to be with. he'll get there eventually.

***

"xu minghao?" mingyu asks, and hansol nods. "i had a class with him last semester. guy is… eccentric."

"do you want to elaborate?"

"just more of what happened to you. no patience for instructors who think they're god's gift to the world. wouldn't talk to me until i talked to him. he's nice, though."

"weird."

"is it possible he…" mingyu trails off, thinking. "nevermind."

a lump forms in hansol's throat, because mingyu definitely glanced at his own wrist without realizing it, and hansol never tried to talk to minghao before, and oh god.

"you think he's my soulmate."

mingyu sighs. "i think you spoke to him, and he acted very shaken up, and i'm not sure what else would explain that because he's never struck me as jumpy."

"ugh."

"it's not that bad, you know. i thought jihoon would be impossible to get along with, but that's kind of the point. it's meant to work, even if it seems crazy."

and that's fair enough, he's heard the same from his mother, but it doesn't change the fact that all of a sudden a big choice has been made for him and that's a lot to wrap his head around.

***

minghao thinks he has to say something cool. he'll never forgive himself if he says something stupid and it ends up on hansol's body forever.

instead, he walks into class early for once and hansol looks so surprised to see him, moves his bag from the chair next to him like he was saving it, says, "you're not late," and minghao's genius reply as he looks at hansol's work is to say, " _that_ hand looks like a spaceship."

for crying out loud.

"it's the same one," hansol whines.

"really?" he asks, looking over again. "huh. i couldn't find my glasses the other day."

hansol sighs beside him. minghao sees him fiddle with his watch and glance down, so if he didn't know before, he must now. "i hate this class," he mutters, charcoal hovering over the page as he tilts his head, like he thinks that will somehow give him the answer to saving his work.

"you should start over. i don't think even i could save that."

hansol doesn't look away, just tilts his head to the other side as he says, "wow, thanks for the encouragement."

"i'm very encouraging when it's warranted, but i'm not going to lie to you. i have to ask. are we ignoring the elephant in the room on purpose?"

"an elephant might be easier to draw."

minghao hums. "you'd think, but not really. proportions are very strange."

hansol finally looks over at him, expression serious until he sees minghao's smirk and snorts.

minghao goes back to his piece. hansol scraps his paper and starts over, and they work in silence for a few minutes. he glances over and sees that hansol's second attempt is even worse than his first.

"this isn't working for you. want to go? i know a place."

hansol looks visibly relieved, posture returning to normal instead of forced into what he thinks he should be doing. "god, yes," he replies, dropping his charcoal and rubbing his fingers on his pants.

***

"here, take this," minghao tells him, setting a small sketchbook and a regular pencil on the table between them. "you mostly do digital stuff, right?"

"yeah," hansol answers, reaching for the sketchbook and pencil where minghao is holding it so it doesn't roll, their fingers brushing when he does. he props his feet on the extra chair and puts the sketchbook on his knees. "how is a pencil supposed to be any different than charcoal?"

"not the pencil, necessarily," minghao says, shaking his head, then he points at a tree across the street. "draw the tree. and the buildings behind it, if you feel ambitious."

"the tree," hansol repeats. minghao came to class in a black, sleeveless top tucked into his jeans, tattoo of hansol's words on full display. he wishes that was the most distracting part of it. minghao's thrown a jacket on since they're sitting outside, but hansol still knows what his shoulders look like and that's knowledge he could've done without for at least another week.

minghao picks up his coffee and nods. he takes a sip before he answers. "figures are about perspective and shadows and underlying structures," he explains, digging in his bag again and pulling out another sketchbook and a pair of earbuds. "trees and buildings are good for that."

"how many of those do you _have_ in there?"

"i like art supply stores, don't judge me," minghao replies, smirking at him. hansol's so caught off guard that he sputters and laughs. minghao rolls his eyes, but he fully smiles anyway as he sticks one of his earbuds in an ear, leaving the one closest to hansol open — not shutting him out entirely, but still doing his own thing.

hansol doesn't realize time is passing, not really, not until their drinks run out and minghao steps away to use the restroom and comes back with refills for both of them and a sandwich that he sets between them before leaning in over hansol's shoulder to swap his empty cup for the full one.

"you could—" minghao speaks quietly next to his ear. "can i show you?"

hansol nods, and he reaches around him with both hands to change the angle of the pencil in hansol's grasp, then guides hansol's hand with his own to create shadows and depth in a way that seems like literal magic.

he wishes he was paying attention, he really does, but minghao has kind of long hair that's going everywhere but like in a cool way and it's sort of tickling the side of hansol's face and he smells good and basically every sense is in overdrive and one of them has to go and it happens to be his vision.

"i'm going to be honest with you, i have no idea what you're doing right now," hansol says quietly. "the elephant is being kind of loud."

"yeah, they tend to do that when you ignore them," he says flippantly. hansol turns his head to check minghao's expression, doesn't expect him to be trying not to laugh.

"i'm not the only one that was—"

"i know," minghao interrupts. he releases hansol's hand and presses it against the side of his face instead.

hansol might actually die, he thinks. what is breathing, because his breath caught in his throat a few seconds ago and he's not sure if his lungs are working anymore because he can't actually feel anything other than the palm on his cheek and fingers over his ear, at least until minghao kisses his lips and his jawline and whispers in his ear that he's really looking forward to getting his clothes off, which is so inappropriate for whispering in public, what the fuck.

hansol scoffs, but minghao's mouth is set in a line and his eyes are serious and hansol has no idea _what_ fate has gotten him into, but for the first time he thinks it might not be so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> missed my soulmates branding sorry. minghao was drawing hansol. like. 100% just watching him and drawing his profile. thank you and goodnight. <3
> 
> just as a general warning, i might take a tiny break once i hit 20, like a week or something? go live in my witchy au where it's nice and warm and my brain doesn't struggle the way it has been the last few fics. will decide when i actually post 20.


End file.
